SUMMER IS COMING... (Part 1)

...And wearing Lolita under the sun, without melting, becomes an almost impossible mission.

I have to admit, living in London, the heat is perfectly bearable, it feels like a warm Spring. But back in Italy going out in the afternoon was a suicide. Especially because I lived in Milan, were the outside temperature was raised by several degrees because of the air conditioning that was on everywhere during the entire day (sadly most Italians don't even know what the envirorment is, let alone the respect for it).

But I'm digressing, let's go back on topic: wearing Lolita in Summer

There isn't actually a single guide to do that. Everyone is different so what works for me might not work for you. Still here's a list of tips that you'll certaily find useful:

STAY AWAY FROM THE SUN

I know this advice is pretty useless in itself, seeing as the point of Summer is exactly the over-present sun, but when it's impossible to find a shady spot you can always resort to parasols.

Lumiebre is a Japanese Brand that makes parasols and umbrellas. In the past they also collaborated with other brands to make limited editions items.

Other than Lumiebre most Lolita Brands have parasols created in their most famous prints

I'm in love with this one from Victorian Maiden

Dream Carnival from Angelic Pretty

If Brands are too expensive you can always take a look on Ebay, were you can find a lot of cute umbrellas from China or Vintage and lace parasols. But not everyone of them works fine.

First is important to choose light colors that don't actract the sunlight. A black parasol will cover you from the actual rays, protecting your skin, but the temperature underneath it will still be too high.
And talking about rays, be careful with lace parasols too. If there's too much open surface it won't be able to cover you from the sunlight and you'll risk burning yourself.

Those are a great choice, even available in different colors

Good choice for protection

This is cute but doesn't protect enough

Don't even think about buying this one... DON'T!!!

My preference, though, will always fall on Vintage parasols. I think they are the best for Classic Lolita

Simply amazing

Perfection

 

The first part of our guide ends here, stay tuned for other advices on how to survive during Summer

My First International Lolita Day - A Report

Despite being in Lolita for almost ten years I never celebrated the International Lolita Day.

Mostly was because I have the memory of my Granma and always forgot the date XD

This time, thought, I remembered and, as it fell on the same day of the F:east Japan, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and going out in Lolita.

Actually the birds were three because, for some reasons that are too long to explain, I'm trying to raise interest in Punk Lolita and it was the perfect occasion to wear it.

This is the outfit I wore today:

Actually the first outfit I planned was different than the one I wore in the end.
I wanted to wear my new overdress, made by myself, but, as I wasn't feeling well, I had to change it for something warmer (this morning the weather was horrible).

Here it is:

This is the face of someone with a terrible cold

Funny thing, around noon the temperature went up and I had to remove the jacket to avoid melting... After a year I still struggle to understand London's weather XD

But what did I really do during this day? Well, I ate quite a lot XD

F:east Japan is a party? Fair? Feast hosted by Japan Centre in Piccadilly Circus.

There were a few free food tasting, and all the usual food you can buy there.

One thing I tried was new and very interesting: a Mochi Ice Cream

 Basically on the outside is exaclty like a Daifuku, but the filling is made of ice cream. I took my photo when it was already melting, but it's best eating it while it's still frozen (just to make your gums hurt more XD)

Not really Iced...

I tried the flavours Matcha (clearly my favourite), Pineapple, Mango and Raspberry (this one was good too but very sweet)

I also ate something like eight or nine gyoza. Everytime there were a bunch ready I was there with my toothpick to pick one XD

Yummy

After that I was still hungry (Don't ask how it could have been possible) and decided to order also some Takoyaki, an Umeboshi Onigiri and some Inarizushi

Just made, they were so good

Look how pink it is

Sadly I have to admt I had better

I want more...

But I didn't eat only, there were also a few activities to try.

Sadly I missed the Origami class, but I totally aced the Sushi making class and did a decent job at the Shodo (calligraphy) one. The two Kanji I wrote were the one for Rainbow and the one for Italy (didn't even know every country has one, I just thought they used Katakana to write them)

Look at my happy face :D

And look at this beautiful Tamaki, I ate it for dinner and it was soo good. I'm gonna make them again as soon as I find a place that sels good fish. The little bear Onigiri looks sad thought.

I also met with Caterina, a Lolita friend, and her boyfriend took a photo of us. 

Photo from http://unicornsforreal.tumblr.com/

She's so cute and that dress from Lief is perfect on her (not like the last one, but that's their fault, understood? XD)

In the end I had a great time and it didn't really matter that it was Lolita Day. Actually I totally forgot about it (apart from the fact that I'm know writing this post) and didn't do anything special about it.

Oh well,I'm content like this :)

Hope you all had a good time too on this beautiful day.

I'll live you with a photo of my dinner ;)

Little haul post

A new post in less than 3 months... Sadly I consider this an achievement...

Actually I've been working on 3 new posts for a while, two of them tutorials, but they won't be ready soon enough to not let this blog die forever (because it's still alive, am I right?).

If it wasn't already clear I'm really bad at this blog thing.

Anyway, yesterday I went with a friend in Camden Town and managed to come back home with 2 great bargains.

The first one is a pair of shoes for just £10 that are perfect for Lolita Kei.

They are in what I think is called Old-Rose, or maybe Salmon,  with a T-strap and two bows in the front.

I don't often wear pink but these would look great with a few garments I already own.

And another bonus: they are extremely confortable.


The other deal is a cute jersey dress with a birds pattern.

Birds are my new obsession this year and I was very lucky to find this dress for just £5. I already know I'm going to wear it a lot.

And speaking of birds, I'm going to start soon on a new project.

I  have these two summer dresses that I want to reconstruct in a Lolita dress. I'm still thinking on the design, I want something that I could also wear without a blouse underneath, so if you'll like to suggest something feel free to do it.


That's all for today, let's see when the next post will be.

See ya

My Treasure Island: Ebay UK

There are different opinions on Ebay.

Some people find it full of bargains, other think it full of scammers.

Personally I think both opinions are right and wrong. Yes there are scammers, like Milanoo, and you shouldn't really look for Lolita dresses on it but, if you have basic sewing skills and a good amount of creativity, you can find a lot of loliable garments in the vintage section.

Lately I've been looking for a velvet dress, not a very smart decision since the weather is getting warmer and I won't be able to wear it till next fall, and I find a few dresses that are worth a try.

The first one is a dress with a black velvet bodice and the skirt in what looks like taffeta.

I made a sketch on how I would transform it and I think it would look absolutely perfect for a Classic/Gothic outfit.

As you can see I removed the sleeves, cut the skirt shorter and made a swirl design on it.
 In my head it's made by cutting the sleeves in the chosen design and "applique-ing" (is this a real verb or I made it up?) on the skirt. I also added some of the taffeta on the neckline because it looked a bit too low.

I would then create an head-dress with the remaining fabric and maybe a rose corsage (no sketch sorry).

What do you think, could it be considered Lolita?

Another dress I found is a full velvet dress with a lower waist line that I think would be perfect to create an OP similar to this one by Mary Magdalene

And the best part? Both dresses are under £20. Pretty good, right?

So as you can see Ebay can some little treasures, butnot only dresses. In fact the website is a great source of accessories too, such as tights, hats, even shoes, and the prices are ridiculous

£3.96

£4.99

from £0.99

The tights above are very interesting because a few years ago I bought this exact same pair from R-Series on Taobao and I payed around €10 + delivery. If only I knew about this...

This won't be the only post on Ebay, I'd love to share all my little finds through time and I'm curious if other Lolis use this website for their shopping.